“Systemic racism” is a political term designed to stifle dialogue, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday, arguing that Democrats do not want a national conversation about violence in Chicago and other cities.
Appearing in “Outnumbered” with host Melissa Francis, answering a question about violent crime in Democrat-led cities, Gingrich said the term was also made to “make [one] feel guilty.”
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“The Chicago police commissioner who had to report on the [104] the shootings are African American. The … chief of police in Minneapolis is African American. But I think there are really deep problems, “he said.
During a Thursday night at city hall with Sean Hannity, President Trump criticized Democratic mayors in cities like Oakland, Chicago and Baltimore for their high rates of homicides and other violent crimes.
“Chicago is an example, it is worse than Afghanistan,” Trump told Hannity. “These cities, it’s like living in hell.”
Windy City reached a grim landmark late last month when it saw 18 murders in one day, making May 31 the city’s deadliest day in 60 years.
That said, the murder rate in Chicago has decreased in recent years. The country’s third largest city saw 490 murders in 2019 – a 13 percent drop from 564 in 2018 and a 35 percent drop from 756 in 2016, when Chicago reported its highest number of homicides in two decades. .
“And the tragedy is, and I think this is what the president is referring to, Democrats have run Chicago since 1931, 89 years,” said Gingrich. “They’ve run Baltimore 56 years. Nancy Pelosi’s father and brother were [both] mayors of Baltimore. “
“You go to all these cities that have adopted democratic policies, democratic unions, democratic institutions; they are a disaster if you are poor,” he added. “And, we need to have a national conversation about how to profoundly change them.”
But, according to Gingrich, the problem with a real discussion is that it would go to “places [where] Liberals don’t want to go. “
“They need more police, not less. Definancing the police in this environment is a suicidal act. They need to be better trained and everyone should have body cameras,” he said. “But, the idea that New York is going to cut $ 1 billion … from the police force guarantees a dramatic increase in crime.”
Gingrich told Francis that “all this vandalism” changes the equation.
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“He is part of a movement to discredit the police who overwhelmingly risk their lives and decent people, and he is saying to people, ‘You know, you can break the law and get away with it,'” he said. “And, that’s where I hope the president goes from talking to action and just having the FBI and others start arresting people. And, you know, prosecuting them and then jailing them for a long time.”
“You are not going to stop the violence until you get violent people off the street,” Gingrich concluded.
Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.
